Let me warn you right up front–my goal in this book is to change the way you think about leadership. I do not aim merely to add one more voice to the conversation; I want to fundamentally change the way leadership is understood and practiced.

For the better part of the last three decades, leadership has been a major cultural preoccupation and a professional obsession. And yet something is missing…

You are going to discover that Christian leadership cannot be separated from passionately held beliefs. Only if you are deeply committed to truth will you be ready for leadership. You can be part of a generation that is simultaneously leading with conviction and driven by the conviction to lead. The generation that accomplishes this will set the world on fire.

I want to see that happen, and I think you do too.

–Albert Mohler|Dr. R. Albert Mohler is President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Southern Baptist Convention’s flagship school, as well as a radio personality, blogger, and sought-after commentator. Hailed by Time magazine as “the reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the U.S,” Dr. Mohler has been quoted in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. He has also appeared on such national news programs as Larry King Live, NBC’s Today Show, Dateline NBC, Good Morning America, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and The O’Reilly Factor.

The Motives Behind the Massacre

These were among the comments that came through the blizzard of commentary after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County. We have heard these words before.

Unfortunately, such atrocities are not going to stop. For the ingredients that produce such slaughters are present and abundant in American society.

And what can stop a man full of hate, who has ceased to care about his life and is willing to end it, from getting a weapon in a country of 300 million guns and killing as many as he can in a public place before the police arrive?

An act of “absolute pure evil,” said Gov. Rick Scott, of the atrocity that took 17 lives and left a dozen more wounded. And evil is the right word.

While this massacre may be a product of mental illness, it is surely a product of moral depravity. For this was premeditated and plotted, done in copycat style to the mass killings to which this country has become all too accustomed.

z thought this through. He knew it was Valentine’s Day. He brought his fully loaded AR-15 with extra magazines and smoke grenades to the school that had expelled him. He set off a fire alarm, knowing it would bring students rushing into crowded halls where they would be easy to kill. He then escaped by mixing in with fleeing students.

The first ingredient then was an icy indifference toward human life and a willingness to slaughter former fellow students to deliver payback for whatever it was Cruz believed had been done to him at Douglas High.

In his case, the conscience was dead, or was buried beneath hatred, rage or resentment at those succeeding where he had failed. He had been rejected, cast aside, expelled. This would be his revenge, and it would be something for Douglas High and the nation to see — and never forget.

Indeed, it seems a common denominator of the atrocities to which we have been witness in recent years is that the perpetrators are nobodies who wish to die as somebodies.

If a sense of grievance against those perceived to have injured them is the goad that drives misfits like Cruz to mass murder, the magnet that draws them to it is infamy. Infamy is their shortcut to immortality.

From the killings in Columbine to Dylann Roof’s murder of black parishioners at the Charleston Church, from the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando to the slaughter of first-graders in Newtown, to Las Vegas last October where Stephen Paddock, firing from an upper floor of the Mandalay Bay, shot dead 58 people and wounded hundreds at a country music festival — these atrocities enter the social and cultural history of the nation. And those who carry them out achieve a recognition few Americans ever know. Charles Whitman, shooting 47 people from that Texas tower in 1966, is the original model.

Evil has its own hierarchy of rewards. Perhaps the most famous man of the 20th century was Hitler, with Stalin and Mao among his leading rivals.

Some of these individuals who seek to “go out” this way take their own lives when the responders arrive, or they commit “suicide by cop” and end their lives in a shootout. Others, Cruz among them, prefer to star in court, so the world can see who they are. And the commentators and TV cameras will again give them what they crave: massive publicity.

And we can’t change this. As soon as the story broke, the cameras came running, and we watched another staging of the familiar drama — the patrol cars, cops in body armor, ambulances, students running in panic or walking in line, talking TV heads demanding to know why the cowards in Congress won’t vote to outlaw AR-15s.

Yet, among the reasons gun-owners prize the AR-15 is that, not only in movies and TV shows is it the hero’s — and the villain’s — weapon of choice, but in real life, these are the kinds of rifles carried by the America’s most-admired warriors.

Some of these individuals who seek to “go out” this way take their own lives when the responders arrive, or they commit “suicide by cop” and end their lives in a shootout. Others, Cruz among them, prefer to star in court, so the world can see who they are. And the commentators and TV cameras will again give them what they crave: massive publicity.

And we can’t change this. As soon as the story broke, the cameras came running, and we watched another staging of the familiar drama — the patrol cars, cops in body armor, ambulances, students running in panic or walking in line, talking TV heads demanding to know why the cowards in Congress won’t vote to outlaw AR-15s.

Yet, among the reasons gun-owners prize the AR-15 is that, not only in movies and TV shows is it the hero’s — and the villain’s — weapon of choice, but in real life, these are the kinds of rifles carried by the America’s most-admired warriors.

One imagines Nikolas sitting alone, watching coverage of the Las Vegas shooting, and thinking, “Why not? What have I got to lose? If this life is so miserable and unlikely to get better, why not go out, spectacularly, like that? If I did, they would remember who I was and what I did for the rest of their lives.”

There are few things I pray for with greater frequency or intensity than the salvation of my children. I long for them to be saved, and long to be able to be able to call them not only my son and daughters, but my brother and sisters. I long for them to profess faith, and for those professions to be proven true.

I don’t only pray it and long for it. I believe it. I believe God will save them. I believe he will save them because that is what he does–he saves. I believe he will save them because that is who he is–he loves to save. I believe he will save them because from their infancy they have been exposed again and again to the powerful gospel of grace, and that gospel is too good and too powerful to do nothing.

Sometimes I try to bring my works before the Lord, adding a little of my merit to their account.

I believe it, but sometimes find myself trying to hedge my bets just a little bit. Sometimes I edge away from the gospel of God’s free grace and begin to trust in works—not their works, but mine. Sometimes I try to bring my works before the Lord, adding a little of my merit to their account.

I can find myself putting my trust in worldview training, believing that if I can only get them to think right, they will turn to Christ. Or I can find myself putting my trust in Bible training, convinced that if I can only get them to know enough facts about the Bible, they will believe in the God of the Bible. And for a time I can feel confident, at least until I remember all the kids I grew up with who knew their Bible and their worldview and their catechism, and who jettisoned it all the moment they got out from under their parent’s authority. Or until I meet other kids who appear so much more advanced than my own. And then, in despair, I have to admit what a shaky edifice I’ve constructed.

If all the good things I do count toward their salvation, then all the bad things must count toward their perdition.

In those moments I have to remind myself to be careful what I wish for. I need to be careful what I hope for, or what I hope in. I can go before the Lord and plead all the things I’ve done right for my kids, but if I do that, I also need to go before him to admit all the things I’ve done wrong. And he, better than anyone, knows how much I’ve done wrong. Do I really want to take this accounting before him? The math is simple: If all the good things I do count toward their salvation, then all the bad things must count toward their perdition. And if that is the case, I, of all fathers, am most to be pitied.

So instead I entrust their souls to him. I put my confidence in him, and in his character, and in his Word. This is an act of the will–I have to push myself to believe it, and stretch my faith to hold firm to it. And then, in confidence, I do what is right before my children as God opens my eyes to see the right: I teach them the Bible, I help them construct a Christian worldview, I tell them all about Jesus, and I involve them in a Christian community. Mostly I just plain love them in a way that reflects God’s love for me. I don’t do all this in order to accrue favor, but because these are the means God uses to save his people, to expose them as sinners and to reveal the Savior.

I do what is right and trust his grace, pleading not my own merit, but the merit of Christ, trusting not in my own works, but in the work of Christ. And I pray–I pray that the God who graciously extended favor to undeserving me, would extend it to my undeserving children as well.

Like this:

Embracing the Costs of Warning the Lost

Article by

Greg Morse

Content strategist, desiringGod.org

On the most somber of occasions, he sought to comfort the mourning. The cold casket adorned a chilled body as the eyes of family and friends, swollen from grief, gazed up at the speaker. He wanted to bring whatever consolation he could. And so, he did what many well-meaning pastors have done in his situation: he abandoned the truth.

Many can sympathize with the impulse to do so. The woman before him lived as worldly as they come, blaspheming God and his word whenever the opportunity presented itself. With all her friends and family gathered, it hardly felt like the appropriate time to tell them what God actually said. And so, the pastor proclaimed that — deep down — she was a good person and was with the Lord in heaven.

It was at that moment, when all sat pleased at the pastor’s words, that a young woman spoke up:

It’s a lie! Do not believe him! We will not all be in a better place! That hope is false! Only those who believe in Christ, the Son of God, the one who died and was raised, will be saved! Only those who repent and believe and follow him until the end will be in a better place. Wrath awaits all who die in sin! Please believe! He stands ready to forgive you!

People stared, aghast. A funeral usher approached to invite her to leave. One person furiously told her to shut the hell up — and so she was trying. Hell’s mouth gaped open. Souls were at stake. God’s truth was being butchered. She tried, alone, to warn her loved ones off the path to perdition.

My wife was at that funeral home a decade ago. She witnessed the minister’s sentimental words, saw the usher approach, and heard the crude language addressed to her. She was the young woman who, with trembling voice, offered all who would listen grace at the gates of hell.

Sinners in Angry Hands

Ever since the fall, hell’s mouth has gaped open. Many will be swallowed up today. More will the next day. And the next. This reality caused even the apostle Paul profound sorrow and unceasing anguish (Romans 9:2). Does it for the rest of us?

This world is a doorway into eternity — a fact that few today consider and fear. Sinners frolic before the Almighty God, daring to provoke him to his face. Although God hates all evildoers (Psalm 5:5), burns with indignation towards the unrepentant every day (Psalm 7:11), and is even now whetting his sword and bending his bow in judgment (Psalms 7:11–13), the unrepentant go about life unmindful of their predicament. They slumber atop an active volcano.

They mistake the God of delayed wrath for the God of no wrath at all. They hear about the nuclear bomb of eternity, but are self-assured that it will never detonate. They approach the God of the Bible like some do those British royal guards: mocking, poking, and testing him to see if he will move — never realizing that the rifle has lowered until it is too late.

And they love the god they’ve created. Their god is never angry with them. Their god, if he even hates their sin, only loves the sinner. Their god is only merciful, only forgiving, only compassionate. Their god does not take sin personally, nor would he require the shedding of blood to forgive it. Their god serves the creature and simply pours forth unconditional love when and how the creature calls for it.

But this god is a pipe dream. This god is a demon. This god is absent from the Old and New Testaments. Even now, the true God holds the unrepentant by the nape of the neck to do them unspeakable injury if they will not bow to his great love and mercy, and take up his terms of peace and eternal joy offered them in the blood of his own Son.

Judgment Day Is Coming

As Christians with the book, we know what day is coming. A day when clouds will be rolled back, trumpets will sound, and the Terror of the unrepentant will descend. A day when the wicked will plead with the mountains to crush them so they will not face the fury of the Lamb (Revelation 6:15–17). A dreadful day when the wicked will be torched as Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Peter 2:6). A day when they will not just drift but be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). A day of second death. A day of banishment. A day of wrath, tribulation, and distress (Romans 2:8–9). A day when there will be no escape, no rest, and no reprieve from torment (Revelation 14:9–11).

Better to cut off limbs in this life than to go there forever (Mark 9:43). Better to be cast now into the sea with an anchor around your neck than to go there forever (Mark 9:42). Better to not have been born than to spend eternity in hell (Mark 14:21).

Will We Speak Honestly and Pray Fervently?

Love invites us, compels us, demands that we speak. The unbelieving live but breaths away from eternal pleasure or eternal pain — amazing grace or everlasting justice. Are we to say nothing or mumble about it as though it were not true?

Perhaps you’ve heard of Charles Peace, a convicted criminal who, upon hearing of hell spoken coldly of by the prison chaplain who accompanied him to his execution, allegedly responded saying,

Sir, I do not share your faith. But if I did — if I believed what you say you believed — then although England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would crawl the length and breadth of it on hand and knee and think the pain worthwhile, just to save a single soul from this eternal hell of which you speak.

Will we speak honestly about hell? Will we cross the breadth of the street to tell the lost? Will we embrace our great fear of social awkwardness and press through?

Let’s resolve with Charles Spurgeon,

If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.

If our neighbors should perish, if family members should disappear upon the broad road, if co-workers should refuse the Savior, let them do so while leaping over our sober warnings and bursting through our arms of prayer.

Jesus in Angry Hands

God so loved the world that he sent his own Son to die for his people’s crimes. Jesus took our place atop the volcano. He willingly traveled through hell’s door and became our Door into heaven. He was pierced by the Father’s glistening sword, struck by his full quiver of arrows. God’s firing squad took aim at him and deafening shots thundered upon Calvary.

He walked into the furnace of God’s judgment. He plunged the depths of the lake of fire. He was tormented. He was crushed. He drank the cup of God’s anger poured out full strength. He did not escape on that Good Friday. Hell’s mouth gaped open to receive us, and he stood alone and shut the hell up for his people.

And on Sunday, he rose in victory. Death, sin, and Satan lay shuddering beneath his feet. It is finished.

Sinners in Crucified Arms

So, we do not merely warn them of God’s wrath. We welcome them to embrace Christ and live. We have good news of great joy for every human. We have a gospel that cries, The curse wasn’t strong enough, Satan wasn’t crafty enough, sin wasn’t ultimate enough, judgment wasn’t final enough, hell wasn’t fiery enough, the grave wasn’t deep enough, the lost weren’t distant enough, and the dead weren’t dead enough for the Lamb of God who was slain!

Family members can be adopted. Neighbors can be saved. Wrath can be abated. Eternal life can be received. We can have God as our greatest love, our greatest treasure, and greatest joy forever!

The gospel is the power of God for salvation from the wrath all mankind sits beneath. So we tell them in the streets. We tell them around our dinner tables. We tell them in coffee shops. We tell them while walking around lakes. We tell them in funeral homes. We bang against the gates of hell with words. We of course use discernment, but we err on the side of boldness instead of caution.

Yes, sinners are in the hands of an angry God, but they can rest in the arms of a crucified Savior. Will we tell them?

Like this:

Starting with the head chef, Connor Lingle. He’s just getting used to the title, but he’s no stranger to the restaurant and the food industry.

“I was born with a passion for cooking,” Lingle says. “I actually knew at 10 or 11 years old that I wanted to be a chef.”

21-year old takes over at Tegry Bistro

Writer / Suzanne HuntzingerPhotographer / Jamie Sanga

Starting with brand new owner and head chef, Connor Lingle. He’s just getting used to the title, but he’s no stranger to the restaurant and the food industry.

“I was born with a passion for cooking,” Lingle says. “I actually knew at 10 or 11 years old that I wanted to be a chef.”

Although just 21 years of age, Lingle’s journey has already been long and colorful. The chef and entrepreneur says it all started in the kitchen with his grandma Lingle’s cooking homemade meals.

“She taught me how to make all kinds of things,” he says. “So, I tried it out on my babysitter. I chopped up onions, seasoned them and sautéed them for her. She loved them. From that moment on, I knew cooking was what I wanted to do.”

Anxious to get started, Lingle got his first restaurant job at Stone Creek Dining Company at just age 15. He started out bussing tables, but it wasn’t long before he worked his way in to the kitchen. Then it was on to Tegry Bistro.

There, he met a mentor who would change his life forever. Owner and award-winning Chef, Joe Dagvadorj, brought Lingle on board and taught him a lot about the business during his junior and senior years of high school. When the time came to decide about life after high school, Lingle set his sights on Kendall College, the second best culinary school in the United States, and got accepted. His boss, Joe, had different advice for the budding chef.

“Joe encouraged me to go to culinary school at Ivy Tech and keep working,” he says.

So, Lingle withdrew his acceptance at Kendall and started culinary school at Ivy Tech. He tackled his baking requirement, but after just a few months, he realized he wanted to get practical experience in European restaurants. Lingle’s plan was to find a good paying job, save money and travel the world for a year, gaining experience as a “stagiaire,” or volunteer assistant chef.

Still, he intended to stick with it to build his savings a little longer. Until one day, Lingle stopped in Taxman Brewery for lunch, and the old familiar pull of the restaurant business struck him. He asked the manager for a job doing dishes.

He quickly moved up to cook at Taxman.

“I learned a lot more in that job than I had ever learned on my own,” Lingle says. “It was the most intense, highly structured kitchen with big hierarchy. But the leadership was good.”

Fate intervened again, and took Lingle back to Tegry. He stopped in for lunch, when his old friend Joe happened to be working. Lingle was happy to connect with his mentor and began telling him about being back in cooking. Chef Joe’s workload had become tremendous. Handling Tegry’s Fishers location along with their Brownsburg and Trader’s Point locations was stretching him thin. His nephew and sushi chef, Anand Tsogtbaatar, was also being stretched thin. Without hesitation, Joe offered Lingle the opportunity to take over the restaurant.

“At first, I didn’t take him seriously. I really thought he was joking,” Lingle says. “But then he followed me out to my car and continued to convince me.”

Joe explained to him that opportunities like this are rare, and he encouraged Lingle to follow his passion, not his paycheck. After thinking it over and talking to his parents, he told Chef Joe he was in.

Lingle has already made plenty of progress in making the restaurant his own. First, Lingle has lifted a weight from sushi chef Anand’s shoulders by handling management duties.

Lingle is already developing a new menu, too. He’s minimizing the current menu to feature the more popular items and create some new favorites, incorporating some of his own recipes. Starting in January, Tegry will be offering specials to help determine the most popular items.

“Our new menu is going to be sleek and modern, and it’s going to promote the most popular items,” Lingle says.

Besides the specials, Tegry will start offering sake flights or samplings. They’ll also update their beer and wine menu to add more local and craft beers. In the meantime, Lingle says Tegry will be learning and adjusting along with their customers.

“We’re not sure how Tegry will evolve exactly,” he says. “But we’re going to let it evolve naturally, starting with gradual changes. Ultimately, it will be a big change from what it is now.”

The changes will be noticeable in the way Tegry capitalizes on the restaurant’s already popular features. The sushi bar is already wildly popular, featuring sushi made the traditional Japanese way with perfect portions. Tegry starts with the highest-grade sushi rice and seaweed available. Lingle’s goal is to expand beyond the sushi bar.

“We’re moving away from the traditional Asian sushi restaurant we once were,” he adds. “We want to concentrate on making our kitchen menu as popular as our sushi menu.”

Tegry’s atmosphere is another great feature Lingle wants to exploit. The restaurant’s modern, classy yet relaxed vibe will be amped up by adding dimmed lighting with candles and jazz music in the evening.

Visit Tegry Bistro at 11561 Geist Pavilion Drive in the Geist Pavilion center off Olio Road. For more info, visit them at tegrybistro.com.

Like this:

Your character, more than anything else, will impact how much you accomplish in this life. It is more important than your talent, your education, your background, or your network of friends. Andy Stanley helps you chart a course toward becoming a man or woman of character. You’ll discover a definition of character that will inspire you for a lifetime, the external and internal benefits of strong character, the six false beliefs behind negative behaviors, and more. Using practical insights, biblical exposition, and engaging stories, Stanley guides you step-by-step in setting the personal goals that will build the foundation for true success.

Like this:

Rich recognized that the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism were not trivial. The hurt it would cause his fans weighed on him as well.

he last thing Rich Mullins would have us do is sacrifice our own convictions on the altar of tolerance. He was known to say, “Argue with me, and I will respect you.” He would wish for all true believers the boldness to defend what we believe and the grace to hear another man’s apology. And in all things, he would bring us back to the Scriptures he implored us to search for ourselves before blindly accepting his words, or the words of any man.

Like this:

Each day there are more people enslaved by a broader array of substances and activities. To sexual obsessions, add illegal drugs, then the prescription narcotics, then gaming, and there are more to come. As the church, we want to draw out fresh insights from Scripture and move toward the enslaved.

Like this:

This country talks a lot about terrorist attacks—and rightly so. Almost anybody in America can give you some kind of a listing of the most destructive acts of terror that have happened in our country. But let me suggest to you this: The two greatest attacks of terror on America were perpetrated by the Supreme Court. Not by any Muslim, but by the Supreme Court of the United States. The first one was the legalizing of abortion. Subsequent to that, there have been millions of babies slaughtered in the wombs of their mothers. It’s incalculable to even comprehend that. The blood of those lives cries out from the ground for divine vengeance on this nation.

The second great act of terror perpetrated by the Supreme Court was the legalization of same-sex marriage. The destruction of human life in the womb—in a sense, the destruction of motherhood—and now the destruction of the family itself. No bomb, no explosion, no attack, and no assault on people physically can come anywhere near that kind of terrorism. Our country is being terrorized by the people most responsible to protect it—those who are to uphold the law.

When it comes to abortion, I am equally dogmatic, totally convinced of the sanctity of life in the womb. I am 100 percent sure that homosexual practice is not sanctioned by God. And that no matter how devoted a gay couple may be, they are not doing the Father’s will together.

Like this:

If you had a $100,000 for every report on Tuesday’s Clinton-Russian bribery bombshell, you couldn’t even buy a condo in the Valley.

HRC and Comey must be held accountable, I’m beginning to wonder if the demon-crat politicians have any redeeming value. They are ALL pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, pro-socialism, pro-Iran, Israel haters, cop-haters, unwilling to help our kids get a decent education by holding teachers (Union) accountable, etc, etc, STOP THE INSANITY !! STOP VOTING FOR DEMON-CRATS!

Like this:

We think that knowledge is power. We think that just by knowing more information we’ll be able to put right what we destroyed. Unhappily, though, it is not. But really, look back at Adam and Eve. They were world changers. They took the goodness and beauty of God and changed it into such a corrupt idolatry that it altered everything. They destroyed the deep coherence of God’s creation, bringing the strong power of death not only to the body and the created order, but to the mind and heart. And having made this change, they then had all the knowledge they that moment had grasped for. They stood there and looked at their naked sorry selves, seeing everything. Unfortunately, that knowledge brought with it no power to do anything. They plucked some leaves, and the wind blew cold along the bareness of their unclothed skin.
Read more at

Like this:

290,178 signatures

SIGN THE PETITION

Conservative ideas are under attack. YouTube does not want young people to hear conservative ideas as they currently list over 30 PragerU videos– over 15 percent of our entire collection–under “restricted mode” making it impossible for many young people to access our videos.
Many families enable restricted mode in order to keep inappropriate and objectionable adult and sexual content away from their children–not to prevent them from watching animated, age-appropriate, educational videos.ADD YOUR NAME TO THIS PETITION, AND TELL YOUTUBE TO STOP BLOCKING PRAGERU VIDEOS.

Here’s a list of the over 30 videos we request YouTube remove immediately from restricted mode:

Why America Must Lead
Why Did America Fight the Korean War?
The Ten Commandments: 6. Do Not Murder
The World’s Most Persecuted Minority: Christians
Why America’s Military Must Be Strong
Are the Police Racist?
Gender Identity: Why All the Confusion
What’s Holding the Arab World Back?
Born to Hate Jews
What Should We Do About Guns?
Immigrants! Don’t Vote for What You Fled
Is Islam a Religion of Peace?
Why Don’t Feminists Fight for Muslim Women?
Who’s More Pro-Choice: Europe or America?
What ISIS Wants
Are 1 in 5 Women Raped at College?
Islamic Terror: What Muslim Americans Can Do
Did Bush Lie About Iraq?
Who NOT to Vote For
Israel: The World’s Most Moral Army
Radical Islam: The Most Dangerous Ideology
The Most Important Question About Abortion
Why Do People Become Islamic Extremists?
Why America Invaded Iraq
He Wants You
Israel’s Legal Founding
Pakistan: Can Sharia and Freedom Coexist?
The Middle East Problem
PragerU Live: Alan Dershowitz
Ami Horowitz – Do White Americans Have White Privilege?
What’s Wrong with E-Cigarettes?
Why Isn’t Communism as Hated as Nazism?
Where Are the Moderate Muslims?
Ami Horowitz – How Is Muslim Immigration to Sweden Working Out?
The Least Diverse Place in America
Ami Horowitz – What’s Wrong with Socialism?
Dennis Prager Talks Politics With Gloria Alvarez and Felipe Moura Brasil

In response to an official complaint we filed, Google specialists defended their restriction of our videos by saying, “your videos aren’t appropriate for the younger audiences…”
There is no excuse for Google and YouTube censoring and restricting any PragerU videos, which are produced with the sole intent of educating people of all ages about America’s founding values. We need your help to tell YouTube that their restriction of our videos is wrong. Join the thousands of Americans who value the free exchange of ideas.PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THIS PETITION TO HELP US FREE THESE 30+ VIDEOS SO THAT EVERYONE CAN WATCH THEM.

Share this:

Like this:

As a Christian, I appreciate the position that President Donald J. Trump takes relating to God. He isn’t afraid to be identified with God or His Son, Jesus Christ. There are many politicians in Washington who would like nothing better than for our nation to become a godless, secular society where the government is the “All-in-all,” and people look to government for everything instead of looking to God. President Trump said in a great speech yesterday, “In America, we don’t worship government — we worship God.” Thank you, Mr. President!

Like this:

In Ross Douthat’s weekend op-ed on the lecherous Harvey Weinstein, he makes, in passing, what I think is a very important point: If liberals want to restrain the ogres in their midst, a few conservative ideas might be helpful. First: […]

Like this:

The mainstream media should be thankful that President Donald Trump is in office. Look at all the attention they are getting. Look at all the stories and theories about him they are writing, tin foil hat conspiracy stories and all. They can’t seem to get enough of him. They criticize him left and right and people wonder how much can he take and will he resign? Therein lies the rub sort of speak.

The other night on Sean Hannity’s show Monica Crowley stated that Trump really enjoys and gets off on all this criticism because it is a major distraction by the media so he can get things done.

Notice the media never mentions all the things he’s accomplished to make it look like he’s not doing anything, but if you do some research like I have you can see what he has accomplished, more than any other president in the shortest period of time. Trump is a workaholic and only gets four hours of sleep a night.

Here’s a list of all his accomplishments so far.

1) He got conservative judge Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court.

2) The stock market is at an all-time high.

3) Consumer confidence is at an all-time high.

4) He created more than a million jobs by undoing Obama’s regulations.

5) Mortgage applications for new homes is at a 7 year high.

6) Unemployment rate is at a 16 year low.

7) Signed the promoting women in entrepreneurship act.

8) Gutted 800 Obama era regulations thus freeing up companies to hire again and get the economy moving once again.

9) Ended the war on coal and caused a new mine for coal mining to open that will mine clean coal. He also put the miners back to work.

You won’t hear any of this in the mainstream media. All they know is destroy, distract and damage. That shows that they don’t care about the people they claim to care about because if they did they would work with Trump and make the country better.

Trump accomplished all of this on his own without the help of congress who are useless at this point. All the media cares about is how they can destroy him today. They have no solutions of their own. They are all deranged ideologues suffering from what is known as Trump derangement syndrome. No wonder the media’s and congress’ ratings are lower than Trump’ s. His may be low, but theirs is lower.

In the areas of economics and national security, Trump is in the midst of healing this country’s true woes. He’s facing nearly insurmountable opposition from every corner of Washington and the media. But he’s started something in motion that will ultimately prevail. He has turned the ship around. That’s moral victory. That’s making America great again. That’s all that really, truly matters.

Like this:

— How should we treat our 18-year-old daughter’s relationship with her girlfriend? How do we love them without condoning their sin? — Should all churches have a plurality of elders, or are there some churches that simply cannot have a plurality of elders?

Like this:

America is reeling again. Families have been ripped apart and individual lives have been torn apart. One day we’re reeling from devastating hurricanes, the next day we’re torn apart by racial divisions, the next day we’re ripped apart by the worst mass shooting in our history. The pain is palpable, the shock tangible. Can America still be healed?

Like this:

David Aaronovitch’s article in The Times today dares to say what others dare not say about the Las Vegas shooter, Stephen Paddock, namely that the point of his action is the pointlessness of …

Here we are living in a world which scorns the religious dogma and calls out for us to be brave and go into the world alone and out of the world again alone, yet when someone does exactly that, and takes their actions to the logical conclusion of that position, everyone scurries to their comfort blanket of motives.

The motive is staring the godless culture, the secular culture of the immanent frame (as Charles Taylor puts it) in the face, and the culture blinks. It cannot stand its own truth.

Like this:

The President was right on target when he referred to the murderous act in Las Vegas as “Pure Evil.” Satan is the author and instigator of all evil.

We don’t yet know whether the 64-year-old Vegas gunman was deranged or cruelly rational. But we do know his act was demonic. No, the devil didn’t make him do it. The murderer made a horrible choice by giving Satan control of his life and accomplished the enemy’s deadly purpose.

Like this:

Evil points to a necessary moral judgment made by a moral authority greater than we are — a transcendent and supernatural moral authority, God. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light, and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” [Isaiah 5:20,

Hugh Hefner died last night. I’m sorry he’s dead. I’m sorry for his family. But mostly I’m sorry for the incredible damage he did to society as one of the pioneers of the sexual revolution and a driving force behind our cultural decay.

It’s unfortunate that we must point out the fact that Hefner was a pornographer and a pimp. That his life’s work was to amass a collection of desperate women who were willing to be used and exploited. But we must tell this truth in order to combat the untruths that people are now saying about him.

We live in a country where men like Hefner are immediately canonized upon death. I’ve seen Hefner described as a “hero” and a “role model.” These are lies, and we must call them lies. The fact that Hefner is dead does not change the fact that he was a peddler of filth. If a man wishes to be remembered as virtuous and decent, he must live virtuously and decently. We don’t become virtuous and decent when we die, as if death itself washes away every bad thing we’ve done. Quite the opposite, actually. Death is when we reckon with the bad things.

I’ve been assured that Hefner is “in a better place” now. I realize this is just a thing we say about all dead people, no matter who they are and what they did. And indeed it’s possible that Hefner repented before death and has now entered the Better Place. But to confidently state as fact that a pornographer is in Heaven is arrogant and dangerous. Pray that God has mercy on him, but do not run around declaring that a man who spent his life having orgies and taking pictures of naked women must necessarily be reaping eternal rewards.

Let’s try to be serious for a change. Let’s treat the death of a man like Hefner with somber honesty. It is always sad when someone dies. It is even sadder when a corrupt and decadent man dies. We may have hope that a man of great faith and goodness is in Heaven. We may have the same hope for the corrupt man, but it is a slimmer hope. So, we simply trust in the mercy and justice of God, knowing that He will deliver us all to the destinations we have chosen. And, if we must learn anything from Hefner’s life, it’s that a life of selfish pleasure seems so pointless once it’s over. That is the great lesson he taught us.

Like this:

If you want bad news about America, I can give it to you in abundance. If you want to make a case for why it’s too late for national reformation, I can make quite the case. Yet there are two words that give me hope, and I want to share that hope with you. But first the bad news: America is really sick – as in really, really sick. That’s why some conservative preachers and pundits believe we have passed the point of no return. After all, the blood of more than 55 million aborted babies is crying out from the ground. How long before God avenges it?

Legend has it that in a land far away, many centuries ago, there lived a husband who welcomed his wife’s rebukes. When she challenged him on some weakness in his character, he listened patiently and humbly, thanked her for her loving concern, made her remarks a matter of prayer, and changed his behavior accordingly. Eventually, […] The post The Beauty of a R […]

Lisa and I are about to embark on a Win Shape Sailboat Cruise where I’ll be speaking once every evening, and Lisa will be planning the play during the day. We’ll be out of the country, and I may not have the ability to interact with comments until we get back, but the thought of […] The post What are Vacations for, Really? appeared first on Gary Thomas. […]

When a family member—a spouse or a child—misbehaves or breaks your heart, the most natural reaction is to ask, “What did I do wrong?” Wrong question entirely. A therapist friend of mine, who has worked with thousands of couples in heartbreaking situations, always asks such people, “When God created the perfect world for Adam […] The post What Did I Do Wron […]

Dallas Willard was once asked, “Why are Christians so mean?” His answer was up to the task. He said that Christians are mean in proportion to when they value being “right” over being “like Christ.” It’s not enough to simply believe correct doctrine; as God’s chosen people, we are asked to behave a certain […] The post Why are Christians so Mean? appeared f […]

[Note: the last two posts began a three-part series helping husbands and wives understand the way each other thinks. You can read those posts, Understanding the Mind of the Man You Married, and Mr. Fix It. All three posts are adapted from my newest book, Loving Him Well: Practical Advice for Influencing Your Husband (a substantial […] The post Getting Better […]

This week the blog is sponsored by Strider, a Christian-owned online marketing agency. This post is written by Strider’s founder and president, Ryan Freeman. Contact Strider to learn more about growing your business online. At first glance, the idea notion of being a Christian and owning a business might not seem that appealing. Society and government seem t […]

You’ve probably heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child. Parenting is so difficult, so complex, so relentless, that it is more than any two people can successfully handle. Children thrive under the responsibility of loving parents but also under the watchful eye of a caring community. I have always believed in the wisdom of this proverb, but I […]

Today’s Kindle deals include quite a selection of books, many of them related to Good Friday or Easter. (Yesterday on the blog: It Was Your Sin that Murdered Christ!) How Do We Encourage Our Children to See The Church as Valuable? Stephen Kneale writes, “We had an interesting, if perhaps emotionally loaded, discussion at our home group this evening. We have […]

Sometimes it does us good to consider the sheer sinfulness of our sin. Sometimes it does us good to consider what our sin has cost. Perhaps these words from Isaac Ambrose will challenge you as they did me. When I but think of those bleeding veins, bruised shoulders, scourged sides, furrowed back, harrowed temples, nailed hands and feet, and then consider tha […]

Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of newer books and a couple of older ones. The Logos deals keep piling up! You can get some great deals on commentaries… (Yesterday on the blog: Why Some People Aren’t Christians) When Twenty-Six Thousand Stinkbugs Invade Your Home They are taking over America! Gray Hair Belongs on the Front Lines David Gundersen writes, […]

This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by Crossway, who also sponsored the blog this week. They are giving away a brand new product that I think will be of a lot of interest to you: the new ESV Scripture Journals. There will be five winners this week and each will receive a complete New Testament set. Here is how Crossway describes them: “ESV Scriptur […]

I suppose I could be on dangerous ground here, but I’ve been thinking about this a lot and have been eager to “write it out,” (which is how I work through ideas in my mind). I’ve been thinking about why some people don’t become Christians. Why is it that some people aren’t saved even though they had an opportunity to be? As an adherent to Reformed theology I […]

I was not able to track down any new Kindle deals, though I may check again in the morning to see if anything has popped up overnight. (Yesterday on the blog: Advice For My Younger Self) Why Is the Abortion Industry Run by Women? “Imagine what perspective a future generation might have as they look back at us. What possible explanation could we offer for our […]

A.W. Tozer has had a great impact on my life. His book The Knowledge of the Holy, which profoundly influenced me when I came to Christ as a teenager, is a classic that I think people today need to read. In the book, Tozer spoke of the attributes of God. He wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Unfort […]

One of my favorite bloggers, Tim Challies, linked to a fascinating article in his daily A La Carte feature: Your smartphone is making you stupid, antisocial and unhealthy. So why can't you put it down⁉️ Here are some notable sections from it about the impact smartphones are having on our lives and minds: They have impaired our ability to remember. They […]

Nanci and I have had a great and relaxing time in Maui the last two weeks, enjoying God and each other. Our first weekend, I spoke on giving at Hope Chapel Kihei’s three church services. (Watch the video of one of the services here.) Thank you to those who’ve been praying for this time away. If you receive EPM’s prayer updates by email (sign up here) you kno […]

Some years ago the women’s competition in the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon had one of the most dramatic endings in sports history. Coming into the final stretch with a comfortable lead, the triathlete reached the very end of her reserves. She slowed, staggered, then collapsed within sight of the finish line. Her mind and body were barely functioning. It was a pa […]

I read the article below, by my friend Dan Balow, and appreciated the challenge he shared for writers. This was found on the blog of Media Associates International (MAI), a great ministry that equips and encourages talented men and women with a passion for producing Christian literature for their own people. They focus on countries with few Christians and li […]

I was privileged to serve on the board of the first Pregnancy Resource Center (now under the umbrella of First Image) in the Portland, Oregon area back in 1983. At that time there were only 12 to 15 others in the whole country. Now there are 2,500! It’s amazing how far the movement has come, and how many lives have been changed and saved because of it. (For […]

In his book The Great Ascent: The Struggle for Economic Development in Our Time, economist Robert Heilbroner recommended visualizing ourselves doing the following, step by step. Though this may make you uncomfortable, it will increase your level of gratitude, thankfulness, and contentment, and hopefully increase both your compassion for the world’s truly poo […]

I’ve written before about the concerning trend of young people who’ve been raised in the church but are leaving it as they grow up. Many of us are acutely aware of the problem, but less certain about what parents can actually do to encourage kids to make their faith their own. That’s why I appreciated a recent article from blogger Trevin Wax, who summarizes […]

Have you transferred across to the new Unashamed Workman blog? We are no longer posting here, but across at www.unashamedworkman.org. The site is for pastors and all those who want to listen well to the Word of God. We have a new team of contributors writing fresh articles every week. We have Workman’s Toolbox entries […]

Great article at the new Unashamed Workman website: “This might sting.” “The sermon became our baby and we made it through the delivery! And now someone is about to tell us that our baby is ugly, or that our baby did something wrong. ” (Tim Bridges)

Unashamed Workman has moved and relaunched. Find the new website here and update your Google Readers to www.unashamedworkman.org The first new post: “So What’s New?” The first new article: “God’s Word, My Voice.”

I wanted to announce that after a six month hiatus, Unashamed Workman will soon be relaunching. The emphasis on preaching will certainly continue. But we will be moving to a multiple author format on a brand new website. This should enhance the blog in terms of the frequency, quality and breadth of content. Stay tuned. Keep preaching.

I’ll be taking a break from blogging for the next ten days or so. I’ll resume my normal blogging schedule on Monday 19th March, when I’ll continue the Digital Technology series. I do plan to post the weekly Exploring the Bible videos… Read more ›

Top 100 ++ christian blogs click on logo 100 below-you will love it

Would you like to deepen your ability to teach, preach, and write for your church context? Do you have a desire to take your church into the rich perspective of the New Testament? Join me and my new colleague, Pastor Professor Dennis Edwards, for this innovative master’s degree in contextual and pastoral theology and exegesis. […]

From Ross Douthat, who has written a book on Pope Francis, To Change the Church, that will surely be a benchmark for many: The conversation has become predictable. A friendly acquaintance — a neighbor, a fellow parent, our real estate agent — asks about my work. I say I’ve been writing a book about the […]

It’s Lent but our text in 1 Clement turns us toward Easter, so during Lent let us pause to consider how we might think and see resurrection as the end of our Lenten season. Our series on the Friday With Our Fathers (FWOF) uses for its text Michael Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers. God, Clement teaches […]

By Geoff Holsclaw: a professor of theology at Northern Seminary and pastor at Life on the Vine Christian Church. If you want to expand your understanding of Jesus’s death, Geoff is offering this free mini-course on The 3 Forgotten Reasons for Jesus’ Death. Is Jesus’s death on the cross a substitution for our death? And if so, […]

I am so excited to be able (finally) to announce this great great news, a colleague in the New Testament department at Northern! Lisle, Ill.— March 18, 2018 — As part of Northern Seminary’s continuing expansion, veteran pastor/author/church planter Rev. Dr. Dennis R. Edwards will join the faculty in Fall 2018 as Associate Professor of New […]

Sermon: Lent 5 It Looks Like Dying JOHN 12:20- 33 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and […]

Michael Gerson has two essays this week excoriating evangelicals for their support of President Trump—one long piece in The Atlantic and another shorter piece in The Washington Post. His basic thesis is that evangelical Trump supporters have discredited their Christian witness. Indeed, they have abandoned it altogether. In the longer piece for The Atlantic, […]

David French argues that Intersectionality is not merely an ideology but a religion. I think he is right about this. French writes: It was foolish for anyone to believe that a less Christian America would be a less religious America. As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, God “put eternity in man’s heart.” Traditional Christianity and Judaism […]

In my sermon this morning at Kenwood Baptist Church, I made the case that the Apostle Paul was not always single but was once married. This observation emerges from Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9. You can download the full sermon here or listen below. – Here’s how we know that Paul was once married. […]

NBC News has an article chronicling Billy Graham’s “painful legacy” for LGBT people. Here’s the lede: Evangelicals across the country are mourning the death of Billy Graham, an influential preacher who died in his home in Montreat, North Carolina, on Wednesday. But while some are celebrating his legacy, others are grappling with the lasting damage […] […]

USA Today has published a stunning report about sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry. Here’s the lede: USA TODAY surveyed 843 women who work in the entertainment industry in a variety of roles (producers, actors, writers, directors, editors and others) and asked them about their experiences with sexual misconduct. The results are sobering: Nearly […]

Last week, Jackie-Hill Perry spoke on the campus of Harvard University for a campus student group called Harvard College Faith and Action (HCFA). For those unfamiliar with Jackie-Hill Perry, she’s a poet and a Christian who was converted to Christ out of lesbianism. She is courageous, bold, and unambiguous about the gospel and what it […]

In the early 1940’s, the ministry “Youth for Christ” was being led by two fiery young evangelists—Charles Templeton and Billy Graham. These two men were travelling around the world together preaching at rallies and calling people to Christ. Eventually, Billy Graham would part from the ministry and begin his own evangelistic work through what would […] […]

Today, I just happened to be reading Sarah Sumner’s essay on “Gender” in Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Sumner has a couple of paragraphs describing the complementarian and egalitarian spectrums. She says that while all complementarians believe that husbands are the leaders of their homes, there are differences among complementarians about the d […]

When horrific evil unfolds before our very eyes, there is a temptation to lose sight of the verities that ought to sustain and comfort us. For those watching the aftermath of the unmitigated evil of yesterday’s shooting in Florida, here are some words of hope to cling to. Hold them close. 1. God is good […]

A thought experiment: What if you had a child who experienced feelings of gender confusion? You are a Christian, so as your child grows you try to teach him what the Bible says about how God made us male and female and how the distinction between male and female is therefore a good thing (Gen. […]

Jerry Lingle

As a Christian I have a deep faith, believing that God is Good ALL the time, and ALL the time, God is Good. My motto IS the "Golden Rule". Do unto others, as you would have them do to you. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Psalms 23:6 "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." ~Blessings to all~